


Overshadows

by nafreshi



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dyslexia, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22998547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nafreshi/pseuds/nafreshi
Summary: As Kaz Brekker takes on his new role as King of the Barrel, he is faced with a new enemy—one that he is not sure he can defeat. Soon enough, Inej, Jesper, and Wylan become tangled up in the mess and the four of them regroup to take on another deadly mission.basically the four of them deal with their own personal/relationship problems while kaz’s new enemy threatens to slaughter them all. also, this fic takes place right after Crooked Kingdom AND bc i haven’t read King of Scars, nina isn’t rly prevalent in this story.
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 12
Kudos: 53





	1. Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this first chapter is told by Eve (an original character of mine) but don’t worry! she won’t become a main character. I wanted to follow Leigh Bardugo’s style of having the first chapter being told by a random character. Eve won’t necessarily be a random character as her existence is kinda important for the moving of the plot but I swear she won’t be overbearing and annoying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, i'll be adding background info before some chapters because 1.) some of you guys might've forgotten some of the details from the books and 2.) i have a couple of friends reading this who are uneducated heathens on six of crows and the grishaverse so
> 
> Background Information:
> 
> Ketterdam is the capital city of Kerch. Kerch is an island nation. Inside Ketterdam, there’s a region called the Barrel. The Barrel is the entertainment district; it’s split into two regions: East and West Stave. East Stave is a gambler’s paradise and West Stave is the red-light district of Ketterdam. The Barrel is the home to a number of gangs, for instance, the Dregs and the Dime Lions. In “Crooked Kingdom,” Kaz Brekker overthrew the leader of the Dregs and displaced the leader of the Dime Lions, essentially making himself the Barrel’s new boss.

Eve knew that tonight was a special night. Something had changed within her. When the third and final man had left a little past midnight, she hadn’t shed a single tear. It wasn’t because she purposely fought to hold back her tears, for there were none to be held back. 

Like usual, she crawled underneath her bed to carve another tally into the wall. It was just a small crescent-shaped dent from her fingernail. Tonight’s tally marked the end of the thirty-fourth night spent at the _Velvet House_. If she had remembered the dates right, her sixteenth birthday would be in exactly four days. 

There came a sound from outside the bedroom and Eve’s heart started beating a little faster. Nobody else was supposed to be coming into her room. Madam Sedna had said that she only had three clients tonight—unless someone had paid the house a large amount for her, which was unlikely. 

The door started opening and Eve found herself edging closer toward the corner of the wall. Thankfully, the blankets were draping off the bed, giving her a bit more coverage. However, it wouldn’t take much for someone to simply lift up the blanket and find her. 

Eve strained her good ear, trying to pick up on the sound of the person’s footfalls.

“She’s not here.” 

It was a guy’s voice.

“She’s here.”

Eve was shocked to hear a second voice. The second voice came from a girl. Eve swore she had only heard one pair of feet moving into the room. But then again, her hearing wasn’t the best. 

“I know you’re here,” the girl said. 

There was a window of space that the blanket hadn’t been able to fill and Eve saw now that there were two pairs of legs. One of them wore heavy leather boots while the other wore thin leather flats. 

“Come out,” the girl said when Eve didn’t move. “We’re getting you out of here.”

“Wh-who are you?” Eve finally decided to ask. She found herself scratching at the tallies on the wall, scared that someone would find them one day.

“Inej Ghafa,” the girl responded.

Eve searched her repertoire for that name. She was sure that she had heard of it before. The surname Ghafa was obviously a Suli one. When she wasn’t able to come up with anything else, Eve asked, “And who else?”

For a few seconds, there was no answer. However, the girl spoke up again. “Kaz Brekker.”

This time, Eve _did_ recognize that name. She felt herself suck in a sharp breath of air. Even with Eve’s limited knowledge on Ketterdam, she knew that the Velvet House was located near the edge of West Stave. West Stave was one of the main regions of the Barrel, with East Stave being the other region. Eve was trapped in her room most of the time, but even she knew that the Barrel had recently undergone a change in leadership.

“I know what you’re thinking,” the girl—Inej—said, “but don’t be scared.”

“If you don’t come out already Inej will have to drag you out,” the guy finally spoke.

“I will do no such thing,” Inej responded. 

“Then I will.”

“Kaz— _stop it_.”

“Fine.”

Eve finally stopped scratching at the wall and decided that there was no getting out of this. She was going to have to come out from under the bed sooner or later. The newfound wetness of her hands allowed her palms to grip onto the hardwood floor and she slowly dragged herself outward. Carefully, she crawled out through the open space the blankets had failed to cover.

“Hurry up,” Kaz Brekker said. 

Eve picked up her pace and quickly got out. For a few seconds, the three of them stood there silently before Kaz took the initiative and walked the two steps to reach the barred window. 

Eve wasn’t sure how he planned to get that off. She had spent most of her first week here trying to escape from that window, only to fail. So when Kaz managed to unhinge all six of the bars in less than a minute, Eve wanted to slap herself for not being able to do so herself. 

Inej seemed to read her mind. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it either.”

“Really?”

“At least not when I was in your place."

“But you can now?”

Inej nodded. “Come on, we can’t waste any more time.”

Eve couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. Madame Sedna had told her that no one was coming to save her, that’d she be stuck at the house up until the day she wrinkled. And when that day came, she’d have to beg for work on the dirty streets of Ketterdam, only to be rejected by every business because nobody wanted a frail, old woman as an employee.

If the two hadn’t been lying, then she was being saved by the same man who was behind all the gambling dens and brothels in the Barrel. 

“There are others,” Eve said as she followed Inej through the window. Eve wasn’t scared of heights and easily stepped out onto the roof of the first floor. “What about the others?”

“We’ll get to them one day,” Inej explained. 

“There’s a girl in the room right next to mine,” Eve pressed on. “Madam Sedna is downstairs and she doesn’t check until the first bell.”

Inej seemed to contemplate her words. “Kaz, I’m gonna go get her. You stay out here and wait.”

Before Kaz could say anything, the Suli girl had already slipped back into the room and out into the hallway, Eve wasn’t sure what to do or say. It seemed like Kaz had nothing to say to her either. After a minute had passed, Eve couldn’t take the silence anymore. 

“Where are we going?”

“You know the Van Eck’s?” 

Eve didn’t. 

“Rich family. Big house.”

Eve made a sound of understanding even though she was still confused. She decided to change the subject. “Is… Inej Ghafa,” her lips stumbled over the foreign name, “is she also the leader of the Barrel, like you?”

Kaz Brekker laughed. “No, we just work together.”

Eve was constantly surrounded by unfamiliarity, but she wasn’t dumb. In fact, she was good at reading emotions. “Just that?”

“Yes.”

Eve was smart enough to know that he was lying, and Kaz was smart enough to _know_ that Eve _knew_ he was lying. 

At that moment, Inej came back with the two other girls: Clarice and Alice. Eve was glad to see that Inej had brought back both of them and not just one, however, her sentiments were not shared by Kaz.

“Inej, we agreed on no more than one.”

“It’s fine.”

Kaz didn’t say anything else before he turned his back and jumped off the roof. Eve could see the anger in Inej's eyes as she helped her get Clarice and Alice off the roof first. The two of them were both on the brink of tears as Inej coaxed them into jumping off. Eve went next and landed with relative ease. However, Inej’s landing was flawless. Her body landed against the ground gracefully and the sounds of her fall blended right in with the night’s ambiance. 

The five of them weaved their way through the dark streets of Ketterdam. Clarice and Alice slowly stopped crying as the reality of the situation finally sunk in. 

Tomorrow they will wake up to a new life. A life that is far, far away from their previous ones at the _Velvet House_. 


	2. Kaz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i'm so new to ao3 but why doesn't this stupid thing let me tab before every paragraph starter!!!!111 
> 
> i tried to do the thing where you hit space 5 times to create the space but that got annoying real quick so no tabs i guess :(((

Kaz leaned back in his seat and heaved a hefty sigh. 

The three girls had been dropped off at the Van Eck Estate an hour ago. Wylan had been elated to receive new housemates while Jesper had bid the three girls a simple hello before retreating to his bedroom. 

The travel back to the Slat with Inej had been long and silent. Kaz had hoped that the silence would continue. He was used to Inej’s silence. He wasn’t used to flat-out arguing with her. 

Frankly, he was tired. The two of them had been running around the city for the majority of the night. It was already nearing four bells in the morning, leaving Kaz with less than five hours of rest.

He was sitting in his office when Inej entered the room. Instead of using the door, she slid in through the window positioned behind his chair. Kaz noticed just the slightest difference in Inej’s skills. The couple of relaxed weeks she had spent at the Van Eck Estate had put a small dent in her agility. To any other person, it wouldn’t have been noticeable. But Kaz noticed.

“I heard you come in,” Kaz said. 

“Noted,” Inej replied curtly.

Kaz brought his hands on the table before quickly slipping off his gloves. He told himself that he would stop wearing them. For himself and for Inej. He had lasted a good two days before he gave back in and put them on again. Inej was watching his every move and Kaz felt the need to elaborate. “It was a brothel, Inej. I had to.”

“I understand,” Inej responded, “I really do.” She rounded the table and took a seat across from him. “Why did you treat them like that? You knew what they’d just come out of, you could’ve been more empathetic.”

Kaz neatly folded up his gloves before tucking them into the inside pocket of his jacket. “I know you’re angry, Inej, but we agreed on one person,” Kaz explained. “Eve Hulian and that was it. You risked all five of us when you went back for not only one more—but two.”

“I knew that we could do it, Kaz,” Inej said back. “I went to check on the room next to Eve’s but there was another one walking down the hallway. I had to take her. If I hadn’t, she might’ve blabbed to the Madame.”

“She never would’ve seen you if we had just left right after we got Eve. We had a plan for this, Inej, and you just completely threw the plan away and played it by ear. You’re the one who wants to do this, but you can’t even do it right. You let your emotions and your past at the Menagerie get the best of you.”

Kaz saw a spark go off in Inej’s eyes. It was a small spark, but a spark nonetheless. “Maybe I was in the wrong for taking off from the plan, but you had no right to treat them the way you did.”

“All I did was say that we shouldn’t take more than one person. They’ve gone through worse.”

“If you had any empathy at all—”

“This is the Barrel,” Kaz said. “It sucks that they were thrown into this life but it happened. The last thing they need is someone like you babying them.” Kaz raised his voice as he let his emotions seep into his words. “You think I would be where I am now if it wasn’t for Pekka Rollins who took _everything_ from me? Do you think I’d be sitting here right now if I hadn’t used my brother’s dead body as a raft? No, I would’ve died on that ship. And where would you be? Who would’ve saved you from the Menagerie if I was dead—”

“Stop it!” Inej shouted. 

It was silent for a bit after that. 

Inej started calmly fixing her hair. She undid her braid, brushing out the tangled bits with her slim fingers. It was clear that she was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to say next. He watched her as she ran her fingers through hair silky, dark strands. 

It was an odd but familiar silence. 

After she redid her braid, Inej shifted back in her seat and laid her hands on the table. “Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to work together.”

Kaz quickly realized what she was implying. “You don’t want my help anymore.”

“You have other things to do. I’ll go on the next mission by myself.” Inej rose from her seat and started for the window. 

Kaz wasn’t sure how often he’d see Inej anymore. Sometimes, he secretly wished that he had never helped her pay off her debt to the Dregs. That way, she’d still be binded to the gang—to him. Kaz knew that it was an awful thought, but he didn’t want her to leave. 

But Inej had big plans for herself, plans that didn’t necessarily involve him. While she wanted to travel the world to hunt down as many slavers as possible, he wanted to reside in Ketterdam and rule over the Barrel. 

So when Inej had asked him to join her on her quests, the two agreed that they’d start by hunting down the slavers in Ketterdam. Kaz was fine with destroying the brothels in his district. The Barrel would still thrive from it’s numerous gambling dens. Besides, he liked to keep things _relatively_ legal, and most of the brothels on West Stave relied on human trafficking, which was punishable by death in Kerch.

Kaz hoped that their partnership in hunting down Ketterdam’s slavers would buy him more time with her, but after one mission, their partnership had already fallen apart.

What was he going to do now?

As she passed him on her way out, he reached for her arm to stop her.

“Stay safe, Inej.”

Kaz could see Inej’s eyes darting back and forth between his wrist and his hand. Eventually, she made her decision and gave his clothed wrist a firm squeeze. “Get some rest, Kaz.” 

Inej let go and before he knew it, she was gone.

That night, Kaz took to his bedroom earlier than usual. 

* * *

When he awoke the next morning, a note had been placed on top of his unused pillow.

He was used to Inej slipping in and out of the Slat unnoticed. She would usually leave littles notes in his office that contained useful information on the happenings of the Barrel. He wondered what type of information Inej could’ve brought to him when he was sleeping.

As soon as his eyes caught sight of the handwriting on the paper, every single cell in his body was put on high alert. The note did not come from Inej. Inej wrote in delicate cursive. The words on the paper had been harshly etched onto the page in capital letters. 

_ONE DOWN. FIVE TO GO. YOU WILL BE LAST._

Kaz felt for the knife underneath his pillow and in the panic, he accidentally grazed the tip of his fingers on the sharp side of the blade. “Shit,” he cussed. Someone had entered his room in the middle of the night and he hadn’t noticed. He could’ve easily died last night. Funny how his closest near-death situations always happened when he was unconscious. He’d rather not die in such an undramatic way. 

He carefully examined his bedroom for any sign of the perpetrator still being there. When it was clear, Kaz checked the one window the person must’ve come in through. The angle of the morning sun perfectly brought to his attention a golden strand of hair that was trapped between the window panes. If the perpetrator had been good enough to come in and out unnoticed, they definitely would’ve been good enough to not leave anything behind. It was obvious that the lock of hair had been planted; nonetheless, Kaz still plucked it from its trapped position and neatly placed it on his nightstand. 

_One down_. Matthias.

 _Five to go._ But in what order? Kaz was going to be last, but who was going to be next? Nina? She had just left for Ravka with two legendary Grisha on the same ship as her. Killing Nina was basically impossible.

Still, even if Nina was practically untouchable right now, there was still Jesper and Wylan, who were probably the most easy to target—especially Wylan. And then there was Inej. He knew that Inej could protect herself. In fact, if Inej had been in his position last night, she probably would’ve woken up as soon as the window was opened.

He needed to alert Jesper and Wylan immediately about the threat. He reached for his cane and changed into his usual attire. The weather was getting progressively colder, and so he shrugged on a thick wool coat before stepping out into the cold. As soon as the cold winter wind started slashing at his face, he felt a hand land on his shoulder. 

It was then that Kaz almost made the worst mistake of his life. 

He followed his knee-jerk reaction and swung his cane back. As soon as he saw that it was Inej, he immediately regretted his decision. The only sound that came from Inej was a low grunt as she dodged the attack. It wasn’t necessarily a swift dodge; she lost her balance and fell onto the ground. She rolled into the ground and jumped back onto her feet.

“What the hell, Kaz?” Inej asked as she dusted herself off. 

Kaz wasn’t sure how to react. He had almost just shattered every bone in Inej’s shoulder and it was Inej who asked if _he_ was okay. “Are _you_ alright?” he asked back. 

“I’m fine. You can’t take me out that easily.”

Kaz breathed a sigh of relief. He realized that he was just being incredibly uneasy. Inej was right. It’ll take more than a swing of a cane to bring her down. Kaz thought back to when he and Eve were on the roof yesterday night. Eve had asked her if Inej and him were co-leaders of the Barrel. He had laughed then, thinking that there was no way Inej would ever want to run such a dirty business. But now that he really thought about it, Inej would probably be a much better Barrel boss than him. 

Kaz wanted to ask her what she was doing back at the Slat, but she beat him with her own question.

“Kaz, what happened?”

The two of them walked side-by-side as Kaz explained the note that had been left on his pillow.

“I think we’re in serious danger this time. I mean—someone came into my room and I didn’t notice. I’m only alive because whoever it was decided to spare me. If they could reach me that easily, what about the others? Jesper? Wylan? You?”

“But you’re still alive,” Inej said, “and I’m still alive. It’s fine,” she insisted.

“Whoever wrote the note made it clear that they killed Matthias.” Kaz pointed out. 

Inej didn’t know what else to say. Matthias’s mysterious and sudden death had unnerved them all. 

“Let’s just head to Wylan and Jesper’s.”


	3. Wylan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Background Information:
> 
> \- The Geldstraat is the rich-people region of Ketterdam. It's where the Van Eck Estate is located.   
> \- The Council of Tides are a group of Grisha Tidemakers that control the harbors of Ketterdam. In Crooked Kingdom, Kaz almost got killed by one of the council members.   
> \- Also, demo stands for demolition. It's a skill that involves chemistry and it's basically just making and setting off bombs.

Wylan had spent most of the night talking to their three new housemates while Jesper snored away in his bedroom. He was glad to finally be doing something again. The couple of weeks he had spent at the house doing simply nothing were pure heaven but it made him feel sluggish and lazy. When Inej told him that he’d be helping her house refugees, he had been elated. He could use his wealth to be helpful and make new friends who didn’t kill people on a semi-regular basis. 

It wasn’t until four bells into the morning that he finally retreated to his bedroom. Even though he and Jesper had somewhat clear intentions toward each other, they still slept in two different rooms. He wasn’t sure if and when that was going to change, but he knew that he was fine with how things were moving along. 

Wylan woke up to Jesper coming into his bedroom and nudging him awake. Judging by the angle of the sun and his level of tiredness, he assumed that it was a little after nine bells. Usually, Wylan slept in as late as he wanted, and Jesper slept in even later. From the moment Wylan wiped at the dust from his eyes, he knew that something was not right. Granted, there was always something wrong—but still—something significant was amiss. 

His suspicions were confirmed when he spotted Kaz and Inej standing by his doorway. “What is it?” he asked. His mind wandered to the three girls. “Eve, Clarice, and Alice are fine,” he said, thinking that that was why they were here. 

“That’s good to hear, but that’s not why we’re here,” Inej said, walking into the room. She took a seat on top of Wylan’s desk while Kaz seated himself on his chair. Jesper sat himself down next to Wylan on the bed. “Kaz got a death threat last night.”

Wylan thought that Kaz getting death threats was a common occasion. He voiced his thoughts.

“This one shouldn’t be taken lightly." Kaz then went on to explain the situation as Jesper and Wylan listened in intently. "The person who is behind the note is also behind Matthias's death."

An air of uneasiness came about the room. Wylan had never really gotten close with the older Fjerdan, in fact, he was scared of him for the most part. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks before his death that Wylan felt like Matthias had turned into a true friend of his. He couldn’t imagine the pain Nina had gone through. It didn’t make it any better that Matthias’s killer was unknown. 

“How did you sleep through something like that? Did they come in through your window?” Jesper asked. Wylan didn’t have to look up to know that Jesper had hit a nerve of Kaz’s. 

“And _you_ would’ve noticed?” Kaz shot back. 

“Yes.”

_Oh no_ , Wylan thought. He knew that Kaz and Jesper weren’t on the best of terms. It was only a month ago that the two had thrown punches at each other back at the hotel. “Seeing as you’re practically living off of Wylan, I don’t think you should be one to talk.”

At the mention of his name, Wylan looked up but didn’t say anything. He gouged Jesper’s reaction, but it was covered by an expressionless facade. He looked at Inej, hoping that she would say something to Kaz but her face was blank. Wylan gathered up the courage to come in between them. He didn’t know if he was being or stupid or smart for doing so. He just didn’t want to see them fight again. 

“Uh…” Wylan said awkwardly, bringing his knees up to his chest. “So what’s the plan?”

That seemed to distract everyone. From the looks of it, Kaz and Jesper were far from reconciling but if they were going to fight, it wouldn’t be now. 

“I have one in mind,” Kaz said, “but it’s not set yet. The first thing we need to do is figure out who sent the note.”

Wylan tried to think ahead. He knew that in comparison to the rest of them, his skills were greatly lacking. He couldn’t fight in a physical battle and his skills in demolition were closer to average. The least he could do was try to keep up with the plans. 

“Could it be the Council of Tides?” he asked.

For the smallest moment, Kaz looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Wylan to come to that conclusion. But then he shook his head. “They were my first suspects, but if they wanted to kill us, they would’ve done so already.”

“And why is that?” Jesper’s tone was accusing. 

“Let’s just say I had a very unfriendly run-in with them not too long ago,” Kaz said. 

“And you didn’t think to tell us?”

“No.”

The tension in the room was insufferably palpable and Wylan wanted nothing more than to just set off one of his bombs to make it disappear. 

“What do we have to do to earn your cooperation, huh?” Jesper raised his voice. “If we wanna work as a team, you have to stop keeping things from everyone.”

“I don’t have to work with any of you, Jesper. As far as I’m concerned, I  _ own  _ this Saintsforsaken city.”

“You haven’t gotten there on your own!” Jesper suddenly exploded. Wylan subconsciously scooted back on his bed. “It was me, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Wylan, and everyone else who’s been unlucky enough to run into you that’s helped you get there. You take everyone in your life for granted! You don’t care about anything **—** or anyone!”

“Don’t be stupid.” Kaz kept the tone of his voice aggressively calm. “It's called practicality. There's no point in pretending to care for things that aren't worth my while. If it seems like I don't care about you, then it's because I actually don't."

Wylan could feel the pain resonating from Jesper. Jesper looked like he was trying to make the decision on whether or not he should punch Kaz in the face or simply leave. Eventually, he chose the latter. Wylan was about to follow him, but Inej shot him a look that told him she would handle it as she went after him. 

Wylan didn’t know what to do. 

“How’s demo?” Kaz suddenly asked. 

Wylan remembered what he had been working on the previous night. He pushed himself off his bed and hunkered down to retrieve the project that was placed under his bed. He pulled out a medium-sized metal box with latches that locked into place on the sides. Wylan flipped open the latches and the lid easily popped off, revealing the three miniature explosives along with the scrap pieces of supplies that he had used to construct them.

“I haven’t tested it out yet. But it’s not meant to hurt. It’s a flash bomb but I’ve weaved another chemical into it.”

“That being?”

Wylan’s lips stumbled upon the word, not quite knowing how to pronounce it. How had Jesper said it earlier? “H-haloth-halothane?”

“What does it do?”

“It’s an anesthetic that’s given by inhalation. It either makes people feel drowsy or numb from pain."

“So you’re saying it’ll either make our enemies feel sleepy or all-powerful."

Perhaps Wylan hadn’t thought that through. “It’s a work in progress.”

Wylan dug further into the box. Beneath the underdeveloped bombs sat the vials of liquid chemicals that he used to create his explosives. Underneath the vials sat a heap of crumpled pieces of paper. A few weeks ago, he had been working with Kuwei on developing an antidote for _jurda parem_. Although, if you asked him, it was mainly Wylan doing most of the work. After Kuwei had left for Ravka, Wylan had stopped his endeavors. Creating an antidote was impossible without a sample of _parem_. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think keeping all of your supplies in one box under your bed is the wisest idea **—** for multiple reasons.”

Wylan frowned in annoyance even though he knew Kaz was right. He put the lid back on the box and flipped on the latches, safely securing the contents inside.

It was then that he heard erratic POPPING! coming from outside. 

Gunshots.

Kaz immediately jumped to his feet and Wylan followed after him. 

“Get out through the window,” Kaz ordered, “I’m gonna check on them.”

“No,” Wylan objected, reopening his box. 

“What are you **—** ”

Wylan grabbed for two out of three of the bombs. 

“Wylan **—** ”

“It’s fine!” The gunshots were getting closer and closer.

Kaz reluctantly turned back around and ran out the door only to run right back. “Shit,” he heard him cuss.

Wylan pushed past Kaz to see what was going on. His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw that two armed men were coming down the hallway. Without a second thought, he threw the two bombs at them. 

One… Two...

BOOM!

Unbearable brightness flooded the hallway and if Wylan hadn’t turned around on time, he probably would’ve blinded himself. A familiar scent rose in the air around him and knew that that must’ve been the sleeping gas. He forced himself to stop breathing as he slammed the door shut. Kaz was already opening the window and jumping out. Wylan glanced over at Kaz's abandoned cane, wondering if he should retrieve it for him. Eventually, Wylan decided that he would need both of his hands to carry his box. 

“Don’t bring that **—** ”

“Don’t breathe,” Wylan warned him.

The two of them jumped onto the roof directly beneath the window. Kaz easily scaled the roof and rounded a corner but Wylan followed slowly, his legs shaking. When Wylan finally caught up, he noticed that the next window located directly above them led to the room the three girls had been put in.

“Eve **—** ” Wylan caught his breath, “and the others should be in there.”

The window was surrounded by plain wall. There was nothing for Kaz to grip onto in order to reach the window and he didn't want to risk yelling and alerting the others. "Get down. I need to use your back **—"**

Wylan's back nearly broke under Kaz's weight. Thankfully, the Barrel boss was quick at picking locks. When he pulled the window open and swept aside the curtains, Kaz concluded that there was no one in the room.

“But they’re **—** ”

“We have to go. They might've left already.”

“What about Inej and Jesper?”

“They’re gonna be fine. It’s Inej and Jesper. Worry more about yourself.”

Kaz and Wylan slowly made their way down to the ground level. When it had been time for them to jump off the roof and into the bushes, Wylan had been terrified that his one remaining explosive would go off. Luckily, it didn’t, but Wylan’s fall into the bushes was ungraceful and he was sure that he had sprained his ankle. 

“Where are we going?” Wylan asked as if he ran with Kaz through the backyard of his house. 

“The Slat.”

Wylan knew that he couldn’t run for that long. He wondered if he should tell Kaz now or when he broke down halfway there. As soon as they made it past the back gate of the mansion, Wylan thanked the Saints when he spotted a vehicle parked near the road. 

It was one of his father’s less fancy cars. There was no covering over the top and it had been left out on rainy days, meaning that the wooly covering over the seats had gotten stiff and rough. The metal material of the car had rusted over and the once rich-green paint had dulled. 

Wylan didn’t know how to drive, but he definitely didn’t want to run through half of Ketterdam with an explosive box. 

Kaz seemed to know what Wylan was thinking and said, “I’m assuming you can’t drive but we’re going to anyway.”

The two of them got into the car. Wylan sat behind the wheel while Kaz took the passenger’s seat. Wylan gave Kaz his box as he scrambled around, trying to find the lever that would turn the vehicle on. After a bit of fumbling, Wylan pulled down on the ignition lever and the car revved miserably to life. Wylan had never taught himself how to drive, but it couldn’t have been that hard right? Press on the gas pedal to go, press on the other pedal to stop, and use the wheel to steer left or right. 

Wylan stepped on the gas pedal and the car made a horrid sputtering sound, refusing to move. 

“I think there are different modes to this thing,” Kaz said from beside him. Kaz pulled down on another lever and this time when Wylan hit the pedal again, the car lurched forward. Kaz’s face hit the dashboard and he groaned, glaring at Wylan, who was too busy trying to find the other pedal without looking.

Wylan drove through the patch of grass that was the rest of his expansive backyard to make it onto the road. Most of the roads in Ketterdam were undrivable. They were filled with street vendors and people walking or biking up and down them. However, the roads at the Geldstraat were well-constructed as almost as the families in this region of Ketterdam were wealthy and owned vehicles.

“This is making me sick,” Kaz said as Wylan came to an abrupt stop at an intersection in the road. When the car from the intersecting road had passed, Wylan sloppily sped up again. The rest of the ride consisted of Kaz telling Wylan which way to turn while Wylan struggled with keeping the vehicle going at a consistent speed.

“How is it so hard for you to drive? You're the one who grew up with the luxury of cars."

“I’m trying,” Wylan said, pressing down on the gas pedal a little bit harder, only to realize that he had pressed the wrong pedal and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Kaz flung forward in his seat and Wylan’s box of explosives made a hissing sound as it bonked onto the dashboard.

“Shit.”

Kaz through the box right out of the car and as soon as the box hit the rough concrete of the road, the thing exploded. Intense light, sleeping gas, and deformed pieces of metal spewed out in all directions. Kaz shielded his eyes and ducked down in his seat to avoid any injury. Wylan squinted his eyes as he stepped down on the correct pedal this time and sped off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell that i have no experience with driving?


	4. Jesper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Background Information: 
> 
> In Six of Crows, right before the six of them were about to sail to Fjerda for the heist, the six of them got ambushed at Fifth Harbor because Jesper had accidentally told someone about the heist. At the ambush, Inej almost died because she got stabbed in the stomach. Kaz got really upset over Jesper's mistake because it almost cost Inej her life. Inej eventually forgave Jesper for his mistake in Crooked Kingdom.

“Jesper, wait,” Inej called out to him as she followed him out of the room. Jesper strode down the hallway with Inej tailing right behind him. He turned a corner at the end of the hallway and the two of them wound up in front of a door to one of the multiple balconies of the mansion. 

“Let’s get some air,” Inej said as she took the two steps to reach and push open the door. 

The two of them stepped out into the fresh autumn air. Jesper audibly sighed as he leaned onto the balustrade. “He’s right, y’know,” he admitted quietly.

“About which part?”

“Everything.”

Inej laughed as she briskly hoisted herself up onto the stone railing. She sat next to where Jesper was leaning, giving her a couple inches over him. Jesper’s eyes flickered toward her for a couple seconds, slightly scared that she would fall off of the stone railing; but then he realized that this was Inej — she never lost her balance.

“Kaz does care about you,” Inej said. Jesper continued to look past her. “He doesn’t show it, but he probably cares for Wylan, too.”

Jesper looked up at her. “Kaz Brekker doesn’t care about anyone, except you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“ _ Is it _ ?” Jesper asked, a pinch of something akin to jealousy and annoyance in his tone. “Sorry,” he immediately apologized. He had no right to be annoyed with Inej. 

“We’re both idiots,” she said. 

“How so?”

“We both made the decision to associate ourselves with Kaz.”

They both broke into careless laughter. It hadn’t been that long ago but sometimes Jesper forgot that him, Inej, and Kaz used to be close friends. He didn’t know what they were now. Inej and Kaz were… _ highly complicated _ and Kaz and him were on the worst of terms. He supposed that a lot of it was because of his doing. He ran his mouth and almost got everyone on the crew killed.

But everyone on the crew had already forgiven him. Inej had forgiven him, and Inej was the one that had gotten stabbed because of his mistakes. People like him made dumb, high-risk mistakes all the time. It was why he had such a huge gambling problem. But hell, even Kaz had made stupid mistakes like his in the past. The more Jesper thought about it, the more he started to think that there was definitely more to the situation. Kaz was mad at him for another reason, he was almost sure of it. Jesper just didn’t know what that alternative reason was.  _ Yet.  _

“We’re still friends, right?” Inej asked. 

“Yeah,” Jesper said, and then he tacked on, “I think.”

Inej gave Jesper a light punch on his shoulder. “No matter what happens with Kaz, we’ll still be friends.”

“Agreed.”

“Maybe we can rub our friendship in his face,” Inej suggested, a playful look taking residence on her face.

“You wanna make him jealous?”

“You were right when you said that he took things for granted,” Inej said, craning her head to look at the view before them. “If it’ll teach him —”  her voice cut off in an alarming manner and Jesper’s eyes narrowed.

Immediately, Jesper spotted a lithe figure darting behind the water fountain in the courtyard. “Shit. We have to get the girls.” He pushed himself off the balustrade and rushed back into the corridor. 

“Where are they?” Inej asked.

The two of them rushed down the hallway and Inej followed Jesper up the stairs. 

“Third floor,” Jesper answered tersely. “What about Kaz and Wylan?”

“They can handle themselves,” Inej said, “or, at least Kaz can.”

By now, they had already made it up the flight of stairs and down the hall. Without any warning, Jesper threw open the door to the bedroom the girls were staying in.

“Huh?” one of the girls — Eve — immediately jumped up from her bed. “What’s--”

The first gunshots started going off. Jesper could tell that they still had a bit of time before the attackers would reach the third floor, perhaps maybe a minute if they were lucky.

“Window,” Inej ran over to the largest window in the room and flung it open. “Jesper, you go first. I’ll go last.”

“No,” he said, “you help the girls out the window. I’m gonna see who our attackers are.”

“Jesper — ”

“Go!” he urged as he turned on his heels and went back into the hallway. Jesper cursed himself for not having his revolvers on him. Weeks of doing nothing at the Van Eck Estate had made him lazy and careless. Jesper wondered if there was a chance he could go grab them. They were in his study on the second floor.

Screw it. 

He bolted down the stairs and was alarmed to see that their perpetrators had already made it onto the second floor. How many of them were there? Luckily, the second floor was split into four main hallways and Jesper’s study sat near the end of the hallway opposite of the one the gunmen were currently occupying. 

As soon as he got ahold of his two revolvers, he skidded back into the hallway intersection. He immediately regretted it as a bomb went off. Light erupted in all directions and Jesper had to force his eyes closed. Wylan must’ve set off one of his flash bombs. He could barely see as he stumbled back in the direction he came from. 

He still wanted to see who the attacker’s were, though. 

He let out a scream that would alert them to his location. As expected, footsteps started heading his way. 

He entered one of the random, unused bedrooms of the house and hid behind the door. As Jesper listened to the footsteps of the attackers, he realized that something was wrong. 

Instead of being pumped full of adrenaline — like he usually felt while being shot at — Jesper felt tired and weary. His moves weren’t completely sluggish, but they weren’t as sharp as they usually were, which was concerning because he was a sharpshooter. He noticed that it wasn’t just him. The footsteps that had been following him grew slower and less-coordinated as well.

There was a slight hint of a pungent odor wafting all around him. It smelled so familiar, but Jesper couldn’t lay a finger on it. Then, he heard two heaps of heaviness hit the floor and when he dared to peek his head into the hallway, the two men pursuing him had dropped to the floor. Jesper wasn’t sure if they were dead or unconscious but the odor was getting stronger. By now, he had figured out that the smell must’ve come from a gas in the bomb Wylan set off. Whatever effect it had, Jesper wasn’t going to stick around to find out. He ran back into the room and out the window. 

He reunited with Inej and the three girls. In the distance, Jesper saw two figures running away from the mansion: Kaz and Wylan. Jesper kept a close eye on them as he and Inej helped Eve, Clarice, and Alice scale down the building. Jesper rolled his eyes as Kaz and Wylan hopped inside a car, with Wylan taking the driver’s seat. He knew full-well that neither of them could drive and that the chances of them being stopped by the Stadwatch were high. Then again, they did have bigger problems than the Stadwatch. 

“Wylan set off a bomb,” Jesper said. “I think it has a sleeping gas in it.”

“You think you can make it?” Inej asked. 

“It was strong. Two of the intruders just fell after a minute of breathing that stuff in.” 

“Fell?”

“They were coming for me, but then they just dropped to the floor.”

“Wylan sure knows what he’s doing.”

Jesper laughed. “He takes chances.”

“Says you.”

As soon as the five of them made it onto the grass, Jesper asked, “What now? Kaz and Wylan just left in the car but we have no idea where they could’ve gone.”

Inej seemed perplexed as well, although she hid it a lot better than Jesper. She paced back and forth in the grass until she finally came up with a solution. 

“Let’s get a car.”

“Can you drive?”

“No.”

Nonetheless, they snuck around the perimeter of the house until they reached the garage. Neither of them were sure if there were any more intruders, but the five of them tried their best to blend in with their surroundings. The two large doors of the garage were closed. On the side of the wall was a keypad that Jesper never bothered to learned the password of.

Jesper stepped closer to inspect the padlock. It was only a four-number code. 

“Any ideas?” he asked.

Inej shrugged. “One Two Three Four?”

Jesper tried it. 

The keypad made a loud buzzing sound and the small light on the side blinked a vibrant red. 

“Hopefully that didn’t set off any security measures.”

“Knowing our luck it probably did.”

Jesper racked his brain for an answer. Starting from the second button, each number had three corresponding letters. A, B, and C went to Two and so on, all the way up till Nine.

“What’re you doing?” Inej asked as Jesper pressed on Two.

“Trying out Alys,” Jesper answered. 

“Pardon me?”

“Alys,” Jesper repeated. “Jan Van Eck’s wife. Two Five Nine Seven.”

This time, the keypad dinged and the light blinked green. Jesper stepped back as the two garage doors started opening—rather loudly. 

Inej immediately slid under the doors as soon as they were big enough. When the doors were big enough for him to enter, Inej had already jumped into the nearest car, which happened to have no ceiling. Jesper took the passenger’s seat while Eve, Clarice, and Alice took the back seats. 

“How do I turn this thing on?” Inej asked. 

Jesper knew that some cars had no security measures, while others required some sort of code or key to turn on. He looked around until he noticed a covered keypad next to the compartment. He flipped open the keypad cover and tried the same four-number code as before. 

The car revved to life and Jesper wanted to cry at his insanely good luck. 

And then his luck ran out.

The doors to the house burst open, revealing two men wielding two very dangerous-looking guns. Jesper noticed that they wore the same attire as the two other men: all black with a few red accents on the trim of their clothing. There was a small symbol sewed onto their sleeves as well, one that Jesper couldn’t make out from his distance, but it was red and white. 

Jesper raised his guns in response. 

“You shoot and we all die,” Jesper warned. “I  _ never _ miss.”

“You’re in no position to threaten us. Your death is worth a lot more than ours.”

“Do you really support whoever it is that you’re working for that much to give up your own life?” Inej asked.

They didn’t answer. 

Suddenly, a scream came from behind them. When he turned around, Eve, who had been sitting on the right-hand side of the vehicle was being pulled out by another man who wore the same clothes as the rest of them. This time, Jesper was able to get a good look at the insignia. 

Inej tried reaching for Eve, but it was too late. The man had thrown her over his soldier and was already putting distance between them.

“Fifth Harbor—tonight,” one of the men at the doorway said before slamming the door shut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is now officially the longest fic i've ever wrote lol. i'm at 12,000 words on my google doc rn
> 
> if only i put this much effort into school oOPS


	5. Inej

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Background Information: 
> 
> The Lid is like the Strip in Las Vegas—but in Ketterdam.
> 
> Raske and Anika are part of the Dregs. 
> 
> In Six of Crows, when the crew found out that Wylan was going to be on their team as a hostage and as the demo person, Inej and Jesper started talking about how Kaz should've taken Raske as the demo guy, but Kaz said that he didn't trust Raske.
> 
> Anika was one of the Dregs that stayed loyal to Kaz when he displaced Per Haskell.

Inej felt as if her a part of her soul was being ripped out of her as she watched Eve being dragged away. She lunged for the backseat, trying to catch onto Eve, but it was too late. The poor girl had been dragged out from the car. Her kidnapper threw her over his shoulder like a ragdoll and sprinted off into the distance.

Inej wondered if she should go after her. With her speed, Inej knew that she could outrun him if she started right now, but she also knew that there were two men standing less than fifteen feet away from them who could shoot at any moment. Carefully, Inej made the decision to stay still. This was going to be a hostage situation, she realized. 

The next words spoken by one of the men confirmed her prediction. “Fifth Harbor—tonight.” The two men disappeared into the house and the door shut with a loud slam.

Inej fought back the urge to bang her fists on the steering wheel. Instead, she dug her nails into the hardened leather material, trying to expel all the anger from her body. _It wasn't working_. From the edge of her vision, she saw Jesper eyeing her actions. He put a hand on her shoulder and she forced her eyes closed, not wanting to cry. Her grip on the steering wheel loosened and she said, “Let’s head to the Slat. Kaz and Wylan should be there already.”

She looked toward the back seat at Clarice and Alice. “Are you guys okay?”

The two girls nodded. They couldn’t have been much older than fourteen. Inej didn’t want to think about how young they were when they had been taken from their homes. Twelve? Thirteen? Inej had been fourteen when she was brought to the Menagerie. It had been two years since then. She thought about Kaz’s words from last night. Inej knew that there was some truth in them. When Kaz had recruited Inej into the Dregs, he treated her like he treated everyone else. He didn’t treat her like she was some fragile and broken girl—even though that was _exactly_ what she was at the time. 

The harsh treatment had made Inej stronger, but she didn’t want Alice, Clarice, or Eve to get stronger that way. She wanted them to experience the comfort of a warm recovery that she had never been able to enjoy. But now, Eve was kidnapped and everything was going to shit. 

After messing with the controls of the vehicle for a couple more minutes, Inej was finally able to back the vehicle out of the garage. She heard Jesper make a comment about how he was about to throw up when she made her first right turn. When they were nearing the Barrel, the streets became more narrow and crowded with people. The four of them got out of the car and walked the rest of the way to the Slat. 

The throngs of people in the streets were careful in avoiding eye contact; the crowd moved around them and not the other way around. Inej felt oddly proud. It was the Wraith, former spider of the Dregs, walking with Jesper Fahey, the Barrel’s best sharpshooter. They should be scared.

When she flung open the door to the Slat, they were greeted by the stares of a few other Dregs. None of them said anything, but they glanced at them with badly-concealed fear and animosity in their eyes. Inej couldn’t remember the last time she entered the Slat through the front doors. Back when this used to be her home, she had always entered through the windows. Truth be told, Inej didn't know where her home was anymore. Her home wasn't back at the Van Eck estate with Wylan and Jesper even though they were her two closest friends. Her home wasn't at the Slat with Kaz because she had already gone through a year of that and it hadn't been that greatest experience. Now that she thought about it, she never really did have a home. Even when she was with her family, they traveled too frequently for her to ever grow attached to a certain place. She supposed that her family was her home, but she hadn't seen them in so long, she didn't even know how to talk to her parents anymore.

Jesper's voice interrupted her thoughts. “Did Kaz pass by here?” His words silenced all the previous conversations that had been taking place.

It was Raske who responded first. Inej couldn’t remember ever talking to him before, but she knew that he was the Dreg’s demolition expert. Inej didn’t trust him. He was skilled, yes, but he was too ambitious to _not_ want to threaten Kaz’s leadership position in the Barrel.

“And what business do you two have doing back here? Last I checked, you two left the Dregs and became filthy rich.”

Jesper chuckled. “You got it in the wrong order, Raske. I became filthy rich _and then_ I left the Dregs. I also made friends with someone who owned a big mansion.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You found yourself a nice _sugar daddy_ to live off of.”

Inej didn’t know how to feel about someone referring to innocent Wylan as a sugar daddy. Disgusted? Mortified? Amused? 

“He’s sixteen for Saint’s sake,” Inej cut in, "don't make it weird."

When Raske shot her a rather unfriendly look, Inej shook her head in disappointment and sighed. She didn't want to go to such violent measures, but Eve's kidnapping had already placed her two inches before the edge and Raske's simple action of existing pushed her over it.

Inej jerked her arms and two knives fell effortlessly from her sleeves and into her hands. She examined the glint of her daggers in the dim light of the Slat, making it clear that she wasn’t scared to hurt anyone. She turned her attention to everyone else in the room. “Now, before I carve out a piece of flesh from Raske, would anyone like to answer Jesper's question?"

“He’s upstairs with someone else,” someone else answered—Anika. “He's with the boy with red-blonde hair."

Inej didn’t trust Anika either, but she deemed her to be less annoying than Raske. Inej gave her a brief nod before she took for the stairs. Inej figured Kaz and Wylan would be in his office. As Jesper headed for the office, she led Alice and Clarice to her old room. She didn’t know how safe it was for them to stay here, but there was no better option.

“Don’t leave this room. The other Dregs might hurt you if no one else is around,” Inej warned them. “We’re gonna find a way to get Eve back, don’t worry.”

“What’s gonna happen to us?” Clarice asked. She hadn’t heard Clarice talk much, but her Kerch was smothered by a thick Ravkan accent.

“First, we need to get Eve back,” Inej said. “And then I want to help get you guys back to your families. You’re from Ravka, right?”

“Yeah, both of us are,” Clarice motioned to Alice. “But we don’t have anywhere to go to in Ravka, our families…”

Inej supposed that that was a problem for another day. “Just don’t leave this room,” she warned them again. “I’ll be back later to check up on you guys.”

When Inej pushed open the door to Kaz’s office. esper relaying what had happened to them to Kaz and Wylan. Kaz sat in his chair and Jesper had taken a seat across from him. Wylan sat against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. Inej took the open chair next to Jesper’s.

“This is exactly why we shouldn’t have taken more than one,” Kaz said as he reclined in his seat. “We can’t care for them all at once.”

“What’s done is done,” Jesper said, irritation leaking into his voice. “Let’s just focus on how we’re gonna get her back.” Jesper’s eyes then widened, as if he had suddenly remembered something. “Also, all of the men wore the same clothes. Black and red. They all had the same symbol—some type of emblem—stitched onto their clothes. It was a white circle and on top of it was a red flower with a few red speckles here and there—actually, they might have been petals.”

“From what it looks like, this group is pretty organized. They’re doing the killings in a systematic order,” Kaz said. “My guess is that it’s either you or Inej they want next.”

“But why?” Wylan asked from his spot on the floor. "They've had so many chances to kill us, why is there a special order?"

“I don’t know,” Kaz replied and Inej knew immediately that he was lying. “I want to plan a stakeout,” he declared.

"We'll get recognized immediately," Jesper said.

“Not if we’re in disguise.” 

Inej didn’t like where this was going. 

“Wylan and Jesper,” Kaz turned in their direction, “you two are going to pretend to be university students going out for a night of fun at the Lid. When it gets close to nine bells, I want you guys to hang close to the harbor.”

The Lid was the other entertainment region of Ketterdam. However, unlike the Barrel, the Lid was a lot more _legal_ and tourist-friendly. Because it bordered Fifth Harbor, the Lid was Ketterdam’s main tourist attraction. 

Inej narrowed her eyes. Whatever plan Kaz had in mind, Inej already detested it. Granted, almost all of Kaz’s plans had worked in the past, but Inej couldn’t count the number of times she had almost lost her life following them on her ten fingers.

“Inej and I are going to be tourists," Kaz said simply.

“How are we supposed to pull that off?” Inej scoffed, bewildered. She could understand having Jesper and Wylan pose as students, but this was ridiculous. 

“With enough skill, you can pull anything off,” said Kaz. 

Inej sent him a wary look. 

“Do you think you can pass as a pregnant woman?”

Inej briefly glanced down at her flat stomach. “I beg your pardon?”

“One word: _Newlyweds_.”

Inej guffawed and beside her, Jesper broke into a violent fit of laughter while Wylan closely watched the interaction. 

“No,” Inej refused. 

“I’ve assigned you worse tasks,” Kaz responded.

He was crazy. Out of all the ideas the seventeen-year-old could’ve come up with, he _had_ to propose this one. Inej felt her face heat up in a mix of anger and embarrassment. Was this some type of joke? Was he purposely messing with her?

“I would rather almost be cooked alive in an incinerator again,” Inej retorted. “Besides, I’m way too young to be pregnant.”

“No you’re not, just ask any unlucky girl from the Barrel.”

Inej looked down at her reflection in the glossy surface of Kaz’s desk. “Am I too young to be pregnant?”

Jesper pounded his hands onto the desk as he laughed uncontrollably. “This is too good,” he wheezed. 

Kaz spared him a quick glance before he said, “So it’s settled. “The stakeout starts in three hours. Jesper and Wylan will get there first. Inej and I will come in later. When the clock hits ten bells, Inej and I will go for a stroll on the beach of Fifth Harbor. Jesper and Wylan are gonna stick close to us, but don’t leave the Lid until you see something suspicious happen.”

Inej wanted to reject the plan. She most certainly did not want to play the role of Kaz’s _fake pregnant wife_ ; however, Jesper and Wylan seemed to be fine with it as they nodded and started to leave the room. When the door shut behind them, Inej glared at Kaz. 

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you so insane?”

Kaz chuckled. “We need a way to get close to the attackers without them being suspicious of us. Think about it, they wouldn’t suspect a newlywed couple with a baby on the way.”

“Be honest with me, Kaz,” Inej started, her tone of voice all-of-a-sudden turning serious. “Was there really no better option?”

Kaz's face lit up in a wicked smile. His eyes glimmered with something akin to mischief and glee. “There is always a better option,” Kaz finally said, “I just liked this one."

“Why?”

“I think you know why.”

“I really don’t,” Inej admitted. When she tried to think it through, so many reasons formulated in her head. She swore that she wasn't oblivious. She blamed it on Kaz and his lack of straightforwardness in their relationship. This was the same guy who could make her go from loving him to loathing him in a matter of seconds. “I’d rather you just tell me straight on.”

Kaz promptly shook his head. “It’s not that important right now. We need to get into character. I can just change into a better suit, do you have a dress to wear?”

Inej didn’t, but it wouldn’t be hard for her to obtain one. She had infiltrated Fjerda’s Ice Court just a couple of months ago, shoplifting a dress was practically nothing. 

When Kaz stood up from his seat, Inej immediately noticed the absence of his cane. Without his cane, he walked with a noticeable limp, one that someone might be used to identify him.

“I’m fine,” Kaz noticed Inej’s staring. “I left it at the Estate.”

Inej had seen him go without his cane on multiple occasions. She knew that he could manage without it; she figured that he used his cane more as an attack weapon rather than as a walking aid. 

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Inej said. She knew that all of Kaz’s plans had layers to them, layers that were always revealed to them later. Most of the time, Inej was able to gauge and predict the layers. This time, she wasn’t so sure. She knew that Kaz was having a hard time keeping up with their new enemies. 

“I always know what I’m doing.”

Inej laughed heartily. She turned to walk out of the room and just before the door shut, she said: “No you don't."


	6. Wylan

“Do you have anything that a student would wear?” Jesper asked Wylan as they strolled down the cramped hallways of the Slat.

“Why’re you asking me? You were the one who went to University,” Wylan said.

“I went to University for _one month,”_ Jesper corrected him, making sure to stress the last two words. “You’re the rich merchling who received the best education from the best tutors of Ketterdam.”

Wylan supposed that that was true. Unlike most people, he was properly educated. _And yet, I’m still incapable of reading_ , Wylan thought sourly. His inability to read was something that had haunted him for all of his life. For the most part, he had gotten over it. He thought back to how hard his tutors had tried, but Wylan still couldn’t read Kerch—or any other language for that matter. How much money had been wasted on trying to teach him how to read? Wylan couldn’t count how many tutors his father had assigned him. There were only a few memorable ones out of the bunch. 

Wylan looked down at his and Jesper’s clothes distastefully. They were both still in their sleeping clothes: plain white shirts with loose-fitting trousers. Wylan usually wore a dress shirt with some type of knitted sweater on top. As for his pants and shoes, he always wore fitted brown pants with loafers that had tired down from constant wear.

He supposed that his usual attire was passable for that of a student’s. The only problem was that all of his clothes were back at the Estate and he did not intend to go back there any time soon. 

After walking up another flight of stairs, they stopped at the first door. 

“Welcome to my old bedroom,” Jesper said as they entered the room.

It was a small and humble space with a cot in the corner to act as a bed. The room was old, drafty, and not at all what Wylan was used to. There was a neat stack of clothes in the corner and Wylan watched as Jesper sorted through his items. 

“Do you think this’ll do?” he asked, holding up a dull-gray waistcoat. 

“To Kaz-like,” Wylan determined. He tried to think back to the last time Kaz wasn’t in a waistcoat and his mind came up empty.

Jesper thought for a moment and frowned. “It’s not like he _owns_ wearing waistcoats,” he grumbled. Nonetheless, Jesper dropped the waistcoat and picked up a soft blue sweater. “I think this might fit you,” he bunched up the article of clothing and tossed it to Wylan, who clumsily caught the thing within his scrambly fingers. 

After a few more minutes of sorting through Jesper’s very limited closet, they managed to find a few passable clothes. 

“Uh,” Wylan didn’t know how to phrase his next words. “Can you...”

“Not look?” Jesper finished for him. “Sure, whatever.”

Wylan didn’t know why he was being such a prude. He thought back to when Jesper, Kaz, Matthias, and him were all in the prison together at the Ice Court with a heap of other men who all had to strip down with no privacy what-so-ever. _This was nothing,_ Wylan thought, but yet, it still felt like something. Wylan walked the three steps to the other corner of the room and faced the wall. He changed into Jesper’s clothes in record time and upon finishing, he realized that they fitted him rather well, save for the fact that the trousers ran about an inch long. He couldn’t understand how anyone could mistake him for being twelve years old. He was tall and he had a very mature face, or so he thought. 

“You can turn around, y’know,” he heard Jesper say.

When Wylan took in Jesper’s appearance, he came to the conclusion that Jesper looked very appealing in argyle-patterned vests. He was about to voice that opinion when Jesper’s words cut through his thoughts. 

“What’re you staring at?”

Wylan blinked a few times. “Huh?” He felt his cheeks heating up. 

Jesper looked him up and down and Wylan’s mind went into panic mode for a few seconds. Honestly, he didn’t know why he was so strung. They were already in a relationship, right? The more Wylan thought about it, the less he was sure. 

Wylan strided over to the cot and sat down. “Do you think people will recognize us?”

“Hmm,” Jesper tapped at his temple with his index finger. “Just a month ago, we were two of Ketterdam’s most-wanted criminals. Our faces were on wanted posters all over the city. Gee, I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “If only Nina was here,” Jesper said. “She’d make us look like completely different people.”

Wylan scoffed, remembering the couple of months he had spent looking like an exact copy of Kuwei. “There’s no way I’m letting anyone change my looks again. I still can’t believe you mistook me for Kuwei.” 

“It’s not my fault. Nina made the two of you look exactly the same!”

“I had three inches on him!”

“He was sitting down when I saw him!” Jesper tried to defend himself.

“Did you not notice his Shu accent?”

“I don’t notice a lot of things when I’m nervous.”

At that, Wylan didn’t know what to say. Eventually, he said, “You would think that when you’re about to kiss someone, you would double-check to see that it’s _actually the right person_ , _especially_ when you know that there’s someone else who looks exactly the same as him.”

“Okay, so maybe I messed up really bad that time,” Jesper started, “but look on the bright side, Kuwei is on his merry way to Ravka and we’ll probably never see him again.”

“And thank the Saints for that,” Wylan said. “He thought that ethyl acetate and butyric acid were the same thing _just because_ they shared a formula, but _everyone knows_ that one is an ester and the other one is a carboxylic acid,” Wylan ranted, his pronunciation of the chemical terminology coming out messily. 

Jesper only stared at him for a few seconds before he said, “You’re cuter when you talk all science-y.”

Wylan tried to stop his oncoming blush by rolling his eyes. 

It didn’t work. 

“When did you even start studying science?”

Wylan’s mind wandered back to when he was about thirteen. He had studied a wide array of subjects ever since he was a child, but it wasn’t until he was thirteen that his father hired him a chemistry tutor.

“Thirteen,” Wylan answered.

“So it’s only been three years?”

“I guess.”

Jesper looked amazed but Wylan shrugged it off. 

“We should probably start heading to the Lid,” Jesper said as he walked across the room to where Wylan was sitting. Without warning, Jesper reached behind him and Wylan stilled, not knowing what to do. Eventually, Jesper pulled back and in his hand was a satchel.

“Here, wear this.”

Wylan looked inside the old bag. There were a few books thrown inside messily and Wylan dared to pull out a crumpled-up piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and realized that it was Jesper’s old schoolwork. Judging from the diagrams, it was an assignment on introductory physics. Near the top of the page was a number in bright red that read: 59%. 

“You failed physics?”

“Technically, I failed every class after I dropped out.”

“You know,” Wylan began, “it wouldn’t be the worst thing for us to go to University together.”

Jesper made an odd face. “I’d just refail everything.”

“But don’t you want to do something with your life?”

Jesper shrugged. “I’ve been dabbling in stocks.”

“Something _besides_ fueling your gambling addiction.”

“It’s fine.”

“But it’s not.”

Wylan still wasn’t sure how he should go about Jesper’s apparent addiction with gambling. Sure, it had gotten better, but it was obvious that Jesper’s impulsiveness with large sums of money was going to become a huge problem that came in between them. He couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life with someone who couldn’t handle their finances. Something needed to change, but Wylan felt horrible about trying to just _change_ someone like that, even if the change would be a positive one. 

“Let’s head to the Lid,” Wylan eventually said. 

* * *

The Lid was bustling when they arrived a quarter after three bells in the afternoon. Essentially, the Lid was just a long street filled with a little bit of everything: street vendors, boutiques, fancy restaurants, book stores, and shops that sold merchandise from all over the world. 

Wylan spent the first two hours at a chemist’s shop. By the end of the two hours, he had practically bought almost one kind of every chemical there was. The sound of the glass vials clinkering around in the satchel was rather concerning. The next hour was spent at a fancy eatery, where Wylan spent most of his time glaring at all the customers who would eat half of their food and dump the rest away. By the end of the fifth hour, they had gotten rather bored. Wylan wished that they hadn’t come to the Lid so early.

It was a little past eight bells when Jesper suggested that they should start nearing Fifth Harbor. The two entered a luxurious book shop for no other reason than to use the back window as a way to observe what was happening in the harbor. For now, it was just the usual. There were a few ships that stayed docked and unmoving, however, a good number of ships were still coming in and out of Ketterdam.

Away from the docks, there was a small, empty area of beach. The beach that most tourists favored was further down to the west as this area of Fifth Harbor was mainly meant for ships.

Wylan watched as several men worked to carry a huge cargo box down from a ship. 

“What do you think is in there?” Wylan asked. 

“Foregin goods,” Jesper responded lamely and with a yawn. And then suddenly, his body straightened and he was alert. “Hey, I think that might be them.”

“Huh?” 

Wylan squinted his eyes and saw a couple strolling down to the waters. They were dressed in middle-to-upper class clothing. The woman—who looked as if she was about to give birth at any second—wore a long floral dress with a wool coat to protect herself from the breezy night air. The man wore a layered brown suit with a black jacket.

“The couple?” Wylan asked. 

“Idiot,” Jesper said with a quick chuckle, “that’s Kaz and Inej.”

Wylan’s eyes widened as he carefully observed the couple again. “Saints,” he whispered, “how do they look so old?”

“I think the pillow Inej stuffed under her dress adds to the effect,” Jesper commented. “Kaz also has his old-man suit on.”

Wylan was bored. He tried to find a way to sit comfortably on the less-than-comfortable windowsill. 

“What’re you doing?”

“Letting my legs rest,” Wylan responded as he took off his satchel. He placed his bag onto his thighs and leaned back against the window.

Less than a few seconds later, he felt the glass panes behind him starting to open and give into his weight, he jerked himself forward, knocking the satchel onto the floor. 

“You good?” Jesper asked as he laughed and pulled the window closed. 

Wylan flushed as a vial rolled out of his bag and away from him. They were on the second floor of the bookstore and his eye’s practically bulged out of their sockets when he noticed that it was rolling down the stairs. He staggered in the direction of the vial and followed it down to the first floor. 

When he reached the first floor, he didn’t know how, but the vial was nowhere to be found. Where could it have gone? Wylan looked back at Jesper to see if he had seen where it’d gone, but when he looked back up, the window had been thrown wide open and Jesper was nowhere to be seen. 

“What in the world?” he whispered to himself. 

“Scared?” a voice asked from behind him. 

Wylan froze. He _knew_ that voice. He recognized it’s deep raspiness. There was no mistaking it, but for his own sake, Wylan hoped that he was wrong.

“Conley,” Wylan said, turning around. 

It had been a little more than a year, but Conley Etson hadn’t changed much. The same dark brown eyes, slightly-crooked nose, and thin, smiling lips. The blonde hair had grown to the point where it now shielded his eyebrows. The biggest difference was probably in his dress. Instead of basic student clothes, Conley was dressed in all black, with a few red accents thrown into the mix. The most prominent part of the clothes, however, was the emblem that was stitched onto the sleeve: a red flower over a white background. Wylan realized that it was the same uniform Jesper had described to them back at Kaz’s office.

“Missed me?” 

Wylan was dumbfounded. 

Wylan figured that he should run. The chances of him being able to outrun Conley were low, but it was better than standing there and doing nothing. As he spun on his heels, Conley grabbed onto his arm and harshly yanked him back. A couple seconds later, Wylan felt a stinging pain in his neck. 

He tried to fight back, but the drug that had just been injected into his body had an instant effect on him. He felt oddly calm. Every nerve in his body was suddenly weakened and he tried to fight against the darkness creeping into the corners of his vision. Wylan searched his mind for the drug Conley could’ve used. “Chloral hydrate?” Wylan asked.

“Correct,” Conley said from above him. “You’ve become quite the chemist, haven’t you?”

Wylan didn’t say anything. He dug through his memory for how long the effects of chloral hydrate would last. _Was it six hours or twelve hours?_ Wylan wished he had paid more attention during Conley’s lessons. 

As if reading his mind, Conley said, “Ten hours. It’s nice to know that the student hasn’t outsmarted his teacher yet.”

 _Someday_ , Wylan thought bitterly as he drifted into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conley's character was created based off of that one conversation between Jesper and Inej in Six of Crows, 
> 
> \---
> 
> Inej shrugged. "The servants at the Van Eck house are paid well enough that they're hard to bribe. The information I got didn't add up to much. There were rumors that Wylan had been caught in a sweaty romp with one of his tutors." 
> 
> "Really?" said Jesper incredulously. Hidden depths indeed. 
> 
> "Just a rumor. And it's not as if Wylan left home to take up residence with a lover."
> 
> \---
> 
> I'm surprised Leigh Bardugo never expanded on that. Am I missing something here? Anywayyyyys bye!!


	7. Kaz

“You’re stupid if you think this is going to work.”

Kaz thought that Inej looked pretty tonight. 

Well, he thought that she always looked pretty—in a subtle, _lethal_ way. But she was normally the type of beautiful that triggered his fight-or-flight instincts. However, the type of beautiful that Inej displayed tonight enveloped Kaz with cozy flower petals and soothed every nerve in his body.

It was quite odd and with respect to his emotions, he was drifting rather cluelessly in unknown territory. 

Inej donned a long blue dress that reached her ankles. Her dark hair was weaved into two braids and golden floral pins were woven intricately into her hair.

“This is so uncomfortable,” Inej grumbled as she readjusted the pillow that had been stuffed under her dress. It had taken the two of them quite a while to find a pillow that was just the right size and didn’t look awkward underneath the layers of her clothes.

Kaz ignored her complaints; instead, he asked: “Do you think Jesper and Wylan are where they’re supposed to be?”

Kaz wasn’t scared that Jesper and Wylan would suddenly not want to do the job. That would be ridiculous. Even though he didn't treat them like it, they were his best and loyal friends. Kaz was scared that they wouldn’t do the job  _ right _ . He didn’t exactly trust either of them the way he trusted Inej. Jesper was too impulsive and Wylan wasn’t exactly what you called important-mission material. But Inej  _ always  _ pulled through. 

Inej scooted closer to him, careful not to make contact with his bare hand. He had decided to not wear his gloves tonight. Besides his cane, his gloves were easily a significant feature about him. He just hoped that he could get through the night without having to touch anything.

The two of them stopped a couple of feet shy from the wet sand. Anchored not too far away from them was Inej’s ship:  _ The Wraith _ . The small but sleek warship bobbed up and down in the calm inky waters of Fifth Harbor. 

“ _The Wraith._ Tell me, Inej, When do you plan on sailing away?” It wasn’t until after the words were said that Kaz realized his question was rather solemn. 

“Not any time soon.”

Inej’s answer felt reassuring. 

Kaz wanted it to be _because of him_. He wanted Inej to stay because of him. He wanted her to stay with him. He didn’t know how’d he live without her presence. They’d known each other for two years, and in those two years, Kaz had grown too used to having Inej in his life. Life with Inej was routine. Life without Inej would be unbearable.

“I have to save Eve first,” Inej said. She leaned into Kaz’s side. “And something tells me that it isn't going to be easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that the world hates me and refuses to let me rest.”

“And what about the rest of West Stave? Are you planning to shut down all the brothels there?”

“Those brothels shouldn’t have existed in the first place,” Inej said, voice headstrong. 

Kaz watched as the last slivers of golden sunlight disappeared under the horizon. The streetlights of the Lid lit up simultaneously, casting Fifth Harbor in a dull and somber light. Kaz tensed when he heard footsteps in the sand from behind them. When he dared to turn his head, he was relieved to see that it was just another couple. At least now they would blend in better. 

“They could be on any one of these ships,” Inej said,” but which one?”

Something didn’t feel right to Kaz. He craned his head around, his eyes scanning over the busy buildings of the Lid. Jesper and Wylan should be watching out for them from one of the windows right now. Their current situation felt too serene; like it was the calm before the storm. He wrapped his fingers around the gun placed in the pocket of his jacket. If Jesper was doing his job right, Kaz wouldn’t need to have his gun on him,  _ but apparently trusting Jesper to not mess up the job was asking for a lot _ , Kaz thought.

From the edges of his vision, he spotted the nearby couple approaching. Kaz hoped that they wouldn’t get in the way of the job. When it was made clear that the couple intended to speak to them, Kaz spoke up first, “You two need help?”

“Yes, we’re tourists,” one of them—the man—responded. “Do you happen to know where the Roselando is?”

“Pardon?” Inej asked.

Kaz had never heard of such a place before. It only took him a couple of seconds for him to realize that there was no place in Ketterdam he _didn’t_ know. Which meant that— 

Kaz pulled out his gun and clicked off the safety. He pointed it directly at the woman. “Move and I’ll blow her brains out.” 

Inej had also caught on. She was standing in a slightly lowered position, like a lioness about to strike. Sometime in the five seconds timespan, she had managed to pull out two of her knives. 

The man simply laughed. Now that they were closer, Kaz realized with a small startle that the man was indeed not a man. In fact, it was a boy. A teenage boy. A teenage boy that was around the same age as Kaz. Sixteen? Seventeen? Eighteen? If it wasn’t for the boy’s tall height and deep voice, Kaz never would've thought the boy to be older than eighteen. The young man wore a black hat that cast a shadow over his features, but Kaz caught sight of a nasty gash that started from the boy’s upper lip and ran to his forehead, eventually disappearing underneath the boy’s bangs. His hair, which appeared to be red, indicated that he was Kaelish. 

“I have five sharpshooters scattered around the area and they’ve been pointing their guns at you ever since you and Inej got here,” Kaz refused to react when Inej’s name was spoken, “I bet they’re dying for my signal. And you wanna know what happens if and when I give the signal?”

Kaz wanted to call his bluff. He really did, but something in his heart told him that the young man was not bluffing. Kaz was good at bluffs. He wouldn’t have made it this far if not for the fact that he was a good bluffer. 

“Perhaps we should let you know that we also have a sharpshooter on our side,” Inej said, her sharp voice cut through the tense air like a knife slicing through soft butter. “I think we can all agree that we’re too young to die.”

“If you’re talking about the Zemini boy and the Van Eck merchling, I’m afraid that their service to you is no longer available,” the girl finally spoke up. Where Inej had a slight Suli lilt to her voice, this girl had a thick Shu accent. Her Kerch was even worse than Kuwei’s. Kaz guessed that she was new to the city. 

Kaz studied the girl. She appeared to be slightly older than the boy, maybe even older than Kaz, but not by much. She had straight black hair that was pulled back into a neat bun. It sickened Kaz to think about how similar he and Inej were to their newfound enemies: just two young kids doing reckless and ruthless things in Ketterdam to get what they wanted—and they were excellent at it. Judging by recent events, it seemed like their enemies were even better at it then they were. Kaz hated that.  _ Is this how Pekka Rollins felt about me? _

“Doesn’t matter what happens to them,” Inej said with a shrug. Kaz mentally praised her nonchalant tone. “Kaz can shoot and kill you right now and that’s all that matters, right Kaz?”

“It’s called mutually assured destruction,” Kaz responded.

“Jesper Fahey and Wylan Van Eck have been drugged and are both unconscious right now. I’ve given orders for my men that should anything happen to Leiyu and me tonight, the two of them will be tortured indefinitely.”

Kaz scoffed. “I know a bluff when I hear it,” Kaz said as he ran Leiyu’s name over and over again in his head. It wasn’t a name that he’d heard of before and it was very apparently Shu. 

“It’s not a bluff,” the boy replied. “Perhaps you’ve heard of the man named Conley Etson?”

Kaz cursed himself for recognizing the name. Just several months ago, when he was doing his background check on Wylan, he had found a list of all the tutors Jan Van Eck had hired for his son. Conley Etson... he was the chemistry and physics tutor. If Kaz recalled correctly, Conley Etson was just a university student at the time. 

“I would say that Wylan is pretty good at demo, yeah, but certainly not better than his former teacher?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Enough,” Inej interjected. “Where’s Eve?”

“She’s safe, for now,” Leiyu said, “and she’ll continue to be safe if the two of you come with us.”

Kaz was not about to walk further into the trap. _ It wasn’t worth it _ . “No,” he said adamantly. 

“It’s not up for negotiation ,” Leiyu said right before she surged forward. In those two seconds before she reached Inej and him, Kaz concluded that she hated her more than the guy. Inej slashed at Leiyu but the other dodged away just in time. Leiyu spun back into a fighting stance and when she advanced on Inej once again, she wielded two twin daggers whose silver material shimmered in the moonlight. 

Kaz didn’t like to fight with his hands, especially now that he wasn’t wearing any gloves. However, it seemed like he had no other choice as the boy charged for him. Kaz managed to land a solid punch on the boy’s cheek and his head flung back dangerously, but the boy was resilient and in the dim atmosphere, Kaz saw that he was smiling.

The two moved around each other in a flurry of fists. Both suffered a few jabs here and there, but then, Kaz felt a strong force blow into his leg—his injured one—and he grunted in pain. It took him all of his willpower for him to stay up and not fall into a heap uselessness on the sand. From his peripheral vision, he saw that Inej and Leiyu were still going at each other. Their battle was a choreographed dance of knives, their weapons were nothing more than flashes of Grisha silver that followed the movements of their quick arms. 

“Y’know,” the boy aimed another punch at his face to which Kaz dodged, “I’d—” the boy threw another punch that came too close, “really… like… to…” the boy’s words came in between every punch. Kaz hated that he was now on defense. The kick to his leg had been a turning point in the fight, he realized angrily. “Know… how… you… got… that… injury… on your leg.” 

Kaz grabbed onto the boy’s bare forearm and dug his nails into the boy’s skin to the point where it drew blood. He felt bile rising up in his throat and the need to empty out his stomach in the ocean nearby. Images of his brother’s decaying body rose to the forefront of his mind and Kaz felt a shiver of disgust wash through him. The boy struggled out of Kaz’s grasp with a few very unholy words trailing off of his lips. His arm was a bloody mess and droplets of red were staining the sand beneath them crimson. Kaz was surprised with the amount of damage he’d done with just his nails. 

Suddenly, the boy raised his hand and Kaz saw that he was holding three fingers into the air. Kaz had no idea what the symbol was supposed to represent but he knew that it was a signal. A signal that was meant for his sharpshooters. 

“Inej!” he yelled in warning right before he felt an instant pain in his leg. Once again, it was his injured leg.  _ At this point I should just chop you off.  _ The pain was hot and fiery, a deep contrast to the night’s breezy air. He fell to the ground, the sand billowed up around him and he closed his eyes. He’d never gotten shot before— _ he’d gotten extremely close to it _ —but the gunshot hurt more than he would’ve ever imagined. It was hard to determine, but Kaz hoped that the bullet hadn’t gone through bone.

“Kaz!” he heard Inej scream his name from somewhere to the right of him. 

_ Don’t be stupid,  _ Kaz thought,  _ focus on yourself. You’re gonna get hurt, too.  _

Sure enough, Kaz heard a very unpleasant slashing of fabric and flesh and another scream from Inej. He winced at the shrill sound of Inej’s scream as she too dropped to the ground. 

Kaz stared up at the sky. Was it just him… or were the stars getting dimmer? Kaz tried to fight the unconsciousness, but he knew he was losing too much blood to  _ not  _ pass out. 

The speckles of light that lit the night sky continued to dim until eventually, they blacked out completely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> with this whole covid19 thing i have so much free time to write and im ready to just pump out chapters
> 
> also, there's a line in the chapter that comes from to kill a mockingbird (at the time this was written, school hadn't been cancelled yet and i was reading it for English)
> 
> anywayyysss bye!!!


	8. Jesper

When Jesper came to consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that it was no longer nighttime. Actually, he couldn’t tell, for he was in a windowless room. Was it a room? The environment smelled of dirt and plants—nature. By the time his vision unblurred itself, he realized that his hands and feet were tightly bound. Whereas his feet were manacled together and tethered to the rocky wall, his hands were only bound behind his back. Not that that made it much better. The rough material of the restraints dug into his bony wrists; even a minute movement of his hands would cause the rope to rub away at his raw skin. 

He had to use his abdominal muscles to lift himself into a sitting position. His body was awkwardly facing the wall, the chains from his manacles were securely buried into the rugged surface of what must’ve been a cave wall. 

It hurt to turn his neck, but when he did, he saw that the cave-room was lit up by a few candles littered across the dirt floor. Jesper’s wandering eyes caught onto the sight of another human body on the other side of the room. They were about ten paces away, too far for him to reach, even with his lanky build. Whoever they were, their hands and feet were bound in the same fashion as his was. 

“Wylan?” Jesper’s voice came out croaky; he desperately needed water. The figure didn’t startle, still sleeping away, but there was no mistaking Wylan’s ruddy curls. “Wylan!” It hurt Jesper’s throat to yell, but he needed Wylan to be awake. “Wylan Van Eck, wake up!”

Wylan made a groaning sound as he tried to roll over onto his other side, only to be stopped by the chains that prevented him from moving away from the wall. Jesper watched as Wylan’s eyes slowly blinked themselves open. 

“Are you alright?” Jesper asked. 

Wylan turned his head toward him. His eyes were still groggily half-closed. “Where are we?” Wylan’s voice sounded even worse than his, it was as if the two of them hadn’t spoken in years. 

“Locked in a room,” Jesper responded. He wanted to laugh at his comically unhelpful answer. 

“What about Kaz and Inej?” 

“I have no idea, but what happened to you last night?”

Jesper listened as Wylan relayed his side of the story to him: starting from the moment the vial started rolling away, to when he met his old tutor, to when he was drugged and fell asleep. Jesper immediately knew that Wylan was leaving out a tremendous amount of details that were probably incredibly important when it came to explaining the meeting-the-old-tutor part—Wylan didn’t even disclose the tutor’s name, but Jesper chose to ignore it for now. 

Through Kaz, Jesper knew that Wylan had gotten into a relationship of sorts with one of his older tutors, but he had never asked for details. At first, it was because he couldn’t care less; then, it was because he didn’t  _ want  _ to hear about Wylan’s past relationships; and now, it was because Jesper knew that Wylan was trying to hide something from him. Whatever it was, finding out was certainly not his first priority. His first priority was getting him and Wylan out of imminent death.

“Tell me what happened to you,” Wylan said, “when I looked back at the window, you were just gone.”

It took Jesper a few seconds to recall the events, his mind still felt somewhat fuzzy. When the memories of last night’s events rose his mind, he was rather embarrassed, for the fight he had experienced last night was hardly a fight.

“There was a guy and a girl,” he started. “The girl was Shu but the guy,” Jesper tried to recreate their faces in his mind, “… he had Kaelish-red hair—I think, he was wearing a hat so it was hard to see—and he had a scar on his face. A really big one.”

Wylan nodded, silently urging him to continue. 

“It wasn’t that big of a fight. The girl came out of nowhere, she was quiet, like Inej—might even be better than Inej. The Kaelish guy held me down and the Shu girl injected something into me.”

“A sedative,” Wylan said. Jesper watched as Wylan’s eyes scanned the room, eventually stopping at the locked metal door. “How are we gonna get out of here?”

To be honest, Jesper had no idea. He had hoped that Wylan would’ve been able to come up with something. He racked his mind for an idea, not liking the thought of having to be saved by Kaz and Inej.  _ It’d just be another reason for him to hate me _ , Jesper thought with a frown. 

Jesper first tried to slip his wrists through the bonds that held them together. His feet were chained with heavy metal manacles, but his hands were only bound with rope. He stopped after a minute of struggling. It was no use. His hands were still tied tightly behind his back but now they were scratched up from the course material of the rope. 

“What if we die here?” Wylan asked. “Or what if one of those candles tip over and we burn to death?”

As if on cue, the door to the room started opening. Hot, bright sunlight flooded the room and Jesper carefully watched as someone entered the room. Jesper expected to see another man dressed in the black-red uniforms he had seen before, but instead, the man that was making his entrance into the room looked like a plain university student. Jesper studied the person with a watchful eye. 

He didn’t appear to be much older than him. There was no way that he was older than twenty. He had blonde hair that leaned on the darker side and a complexion that was a few shades darker than that of Wylan’s. If he wasn’t tied to a wall in Saints-knows-where and if he wasn’t in a relationship with Wylan, Jesper definitely would’ve tried to flirt with him. 

“Sleep well?” the guy asked. 

“Let us out of here,” Wylan said, voice stern and unforgiving. Jesper was shocked at Wylan’s audacity, but then it dawned on him that Wylan must be familiar with their captor. 

Jesper easily put two and two together:  _ it’s his old tutor.  _

Jesper watched their interactions closely. Wylan’s eyes were aglow with nothing less than fury. Jesper couldn’t remember ever seeing Wylan ever being this affected by anyone, well, save for the time he accidentally kissed Kuwei right in front of him. 

But this was a side of Wylan that Jesper had never seen before. 

“Sadly, that’s not how being a prisoner works,” the guy responded as he started to walk toward Wylan. 

“Don’t come near me,” Wylan warned. 

To Jesper’s surprise, the guy stopped in his tracks, still a couple feet away from Wylan. “So be it,” he said with a shrug. He turned his head toward Jesper’s direction and Jesper made sure to make eye contact with the guy. He didn’t even know why, but Jesper regretted it when he realized that the man had really pretty gray eyes.  _ No wonder Wylan took a liking to him. _ “And you must be Jesper Fahey,” the guy said, disrupting Jesper’s cluster of thoughts that were rather inappropriate for the situation. 

“That would be me, yes,” Jesper didn’t know how to act around him. It wasn’t everyday that he had conversations with a kidnapper who happened to be the ex-boyfriend of his current boyfriend. “And your name?”

“Conley Etson.”

“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Etson.” Not seeing any better alternatives, Jesper decided to take the silly approach. “I would shake your hand, but as you can see, they’re incapacitated.” Jesper forced down the urge to cackle at Wylan’s confused and incredulous expression.

Conley raised an eyebrow, surprised by Jesper’s behavior. “Well then, you’ll be happy to know that soon, you will be out of your bonds and back with your two friends, Kaz and Inej.”

It was Jesper’s turn to be surprised. “What do you mean?”

“It’ll be explained to the four of you later,” Conley said, “but for now,” he turned back around to face Wylan, “how about we do a little bit of catching up?”

Jesper had a gambler’s eye for emotions. He could tell that Wylan was very close to spitting in Conley's face. The only thing holding him back seemed to be the distance between the two. 

“Tell me, how did you two come to meet?” Conely asked. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and Jesper narrowed his eyes, wondering what he was going to do with it. Set them on fire? Set the place on fire? Jesper glanced over at Wylan, who watched on carelessly and unafraid, as if this was a common sight. Conley then pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his other pocket and Jesper eased up, thankful that he wasn’t going to burn to death, at least not today. 

“Those aren’t good for you,” Wylan said. Through his monotone facade, Jesper could sense a pinch of concern. It was the same voice Wylan used on  _ him  _ when they spoke about his gambling problem. Jesper didn’t know how to feel about that. 

Conley responded with a dubious shrug before changing the topic at hand. “I must say, Wylan, those flash bombs with the sleeping drug mixed in? Ten out of ten. Took down a few men of ours. Keep it up and someday you might be as good as me.”

“That day will come, Conley,” Wylan said, “and you’ll regret everything.”

“It’s such a shame that you associate yourself with a bunch of thugs,” Conely spat, motioning toward Jesper. 

“And who are  _ you  _ working for? A bunch of thugs?” 

“I’m helping to bring justice to Ketterdam,  _ merchling— _ ”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Wait,” Jesper cut in, “what do you mean  _ justice _ ?”

Conley turned his attention to him. “The Dregs have done enough damage to the city. It’s about time that someone put a stop to you.”

Jesper laughed. “So you’re what, an illegal version of the Stadwatch? You want to be the anti-hero of Ketterdam?” Jesper scoffed. “You don’t care about the safety of the city. This is about revenge, isn’t it? It’s revenge against Wylan for whatever he did to you. Am I right?”

Jesper saw that his words hit a nerve in Conley. For a couple of seconds, Jesper worried that he was going to get beat up for speaking out like that. Luckily, Conley quickly regained his composure and said, “You don’t know what happened between me and Wylan, do you?” When Jesper didn’t answer, it was Conley’s turn to laugh. “Wylan didn’t even tell you about me, did he?” Conley went on and Jesper forced himself to hold his poker face. “Hm, interesting.”

“I didn’t tell Jesper about you because you’re not important enough,” Wylan said, his words harsh and sharp. 

Jesper liked this side of Wylan. Flustered and Brainy Wylan was cute, but Snarky and Brave Wylan was definitely a must. 

“That’s not true.”

“ _You’re_ _embarrassing_ , Conley.” Wylan said. “You were nothing more than a quick fling I had because I was bored. I only went along with it because I felt bad for you. But then you blew it up into a big deal and ruined your own life.”

Jesper saw the exact moment Conley’s eyes lit up in pure anger. Jesper knew what Conley was going to do before he did it and in an attempt to stop him, Jesper lunged forward, only to groan in pain when his manacles held him back. Adrenaline coursed through his body in rapid waves as he tried desperately to escape from his restraints but it was no use. 

Jesper watched as Conley made his way over to Wylan. He grabbed Wylan by the back of his collar and yanked him upwards. The chains attached to Wylan’s restraints clattered against each other from the sudden motion. Wylan let out a horrid choking sound as his sweater dug into his neck.

Before anything else could happen, another voice rang out through the room. “What’s going on here?!”

Jesper’s head whipped to the doorway and he realized that it was the Shu girl from last night. 

“I told you to bring them to us, not beat them up.” She strode into the room. It was very apparent from her body language and the way she carried herself that she was the one in charge. “Let him go, Conley.”

“Fine by me,” Conley said, his grip on Wylan’s sweater all-of-a-sudden loosening. 

Before Wylan could fall to the ground, the girl rushed forward and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest to keep him from falling. 

She glared at Conley. “ _ Don’t test me _ , Conley,” she said. “One day, you’ll be more trouble than you’re worth.” Her voice had a dangerous edge to it. She focused her attention back on Wylan, making sure he was steady on his feet before taking her hands off of him. “I don’t care about whatever history you had with this one. They’re prisoners that are currently very valuable to Khan and I and if you--”

“I know I know I know,” Conley cut her off carelessly. 

The Shu girl huffed. “Just unshackle them.”

Soon enough, both him and Wylan were freed from their manacles. Jesper hoisted himself into a standing position. His legs wobbled from their lack of use and his ankles ached from the metal that had been digging into his skin. To Jesper’s dismay, his hands were still bound tightly behind his back. He never realized how much he needed his hands to walk properly. Jesper stumbled behind the Shu girl and Wylan; Conley stayed close behind him. As soon as they exited the room, Jesper saw that they were in the wild. 

_ Is this still Ketterdam? How long was I asleep? _

The shrubbery that surrounded them were near-dead, their yellowed color showing for that. Jesper stepped over them, his loafers meeting the ground with a satisfying crunch. The room that they had been locked in was carved into the side of the mountain. Jesper wondered how that had been accomplished as that part of the mountain was more solid rock than dirt. They made their way down the mountain. There was no path to follow and so the four of them trudged through the plants. 

Jesper cast a glance up at the sky. He wanted to think that the skyline looked like Ketterdam’s skyline, but to be honest, Jesper thought that all skies looked the same. All he saw was a dull afternoon sky, the sun tucked away behind a thick swarm of gray clouds. 

Somewhere along the way, the viewing angle had changed and in the distance, Jesper spotted the undulating waves of the sea. Even further in the distance was a harbor—one of Ketterdam’s harbors. Which one was it? It certainly wasn’t Fifth Harbor. It couldn’t have been First Harbor either, given that the Tidemaker’s Watchtower was located in First Harbor and there was no watchtower in sight. Whatever harbor it was, Jesper knew that they were on one of Ketterdam’s many off-the-coast islands. 

Jesper glanced ahead at where they might be going. In the waters, there were two ships. He was no sailor, and so most ships looked the same to him. It was a galleon, and a threatening-looking one at that. 

Jesper’s eyes slipped over to the second ship, and this one he definitely recognized, for it was Inej’s ship. There was no mistaking it. Carved into the side of the small warship were the words:  _ The Wraith _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *conley walks in*
> 
> wylan: ugh this bitch
> 
> jesper: omg he's hot 
> 
> jesper: *realizes it's wylan's ex*
> 
> jesper: ugh this bitch


End file.
